16 November 2015

There are three ways to pronounce the final-ed of regular verbs in the simple past tense. This pronunciation is determined by the final sound* of the verb in the infinitive: Is it a voiced consonant, an unvoiced consonant, or a vowel sound?

For verbs ending in d and t the final -ed is pronounced /Id/ as in the final two letters of the word did. Note that here the -e is not silent and this final -ed sound adds another syllable to the end of the verb.

After unvoiced sounds such as/ p, k, f, s, ʃ , tʃ,θ/ the final -ed is pronounced like /t/as in the word cat. Note that the -e remains silent.

After voiced consonants such as /b, ð, g, v, z, ʒ, dʒ, m, n, ŋ, l, r/ the final -ed sound is pronounced like/d/ as in good. Note that the -eremains silent. The final -ed is also pronounced like thed in good after all vowel sounds (the -e remains silent too).